Some words in Chinese are pronounced softly in some words. How to tell the difference?

Soft tone means that in Mandarin words and sentences, some syllables lose their original tone due to the influence of the preceding and following syllables, thus becoming a soft and light tone. For example: dad (bà·ba), dim sum (diǎn·xin), etc. In these words, the tone of the second syllable becomes soft and fuzzy in actual pronunciation, which is classified as soft tone.

In Mandarin, the word "soft voice" plays a role in distinguishing the part of speech and the meaning of words, such as: brother (xiōng·di), refers to younger brother; brother (xiōng dì), refers to "brothers". Benefit (lì·hai), refers to "severe" or "very deep", and is an adjective or adverb, such as "the pain is very severe"; benefit (lìhài), refers to benefit or harm, and is a noun, such as "You should understand this" What’s at stake is what’s at stake.”

Soft tone is a sound change phenomenon in pitch, length, etc. due to the weakening of syllable pronunciation. It can be regarded as a special tone change, not an independent tone type. However, soft-sounding syllables not only significantly change the tone value and shorten the sound length, but also weaken the sound intensity. They often also cause some changes in the timbre. For example, the pronunciation of the finals becomes more ambiguous, and the tongue position of the main vowels becomes more ambiguous. The tongue moves in the surface, central, and middle directions, and the initial consonants of unaspirated voiceless stops and voiceless affricates are voiced. For example, in the word "brother" (gē·ge), the second syllable is pronounced softly, its initial consonant changes from a voiceless stop to the corresponding voiced stop, and the final vowel changes from a lingual, back, semi-high, and unrounded vowel. It became the lingual, central, middle, and middle rounded vowels.

To read softly, generally speaking, the tone read after the Yinping, Yangping, and Qu tones is lower than the previous syllable. The tone value can be roughly described as a short, low falling tone; after the upper tone The soft sound is higher than the previous syllable, and its tone can be roughly described as a short, half-high flat tone. What needs to be noted is that the phenomenon of "eating words" or "swallowing words" cannot occur in order to make soft sounds. For example:

Non-rising voice + soft voice

Arm-disabled gourd starling crosstalk Mr. Malaria underground

Rising voice + soft voice

Dress up and sell speakers Pillow mute sister's tongue

1. Most of the syllables pronounced softly are related to their grammatical meaning and vocabulary, such as modal particles "ah, bar, hey, ma", etc., and noun and pronoun suffixes "zi, er, tou" , de, men", etc., locative words "up, down, inside, head, side, face", etc., words after verbs indicating trends such as "come, go", etc., auxiliary words "of, place, de, zhu, er, pass" etc. "wait.

(1) For nouns with overlapping sounds, the final syllable is mostly pronounced softly. Such as:

Mom, dad, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandma, aunt, uncle, aunt and uncle

Sister, brother, younger brother, sister, doll, wife, mother-in-law, grandpa, star

Uncle, orangutan

(2) For nouns with the suffix "zi" or "tou", "zi" is generally pronounced softly, and "tou" is also mostly pronounced softly. Such as:

Son, father, temple, table, stool, chair, basin, plate, thin man

Shovel, stove, nose, boy, pants, devil, grandson, rabbit, swallow

Beard, peach, plum, tune, house, shoes, socks, appearance Yard

The fat man's collar, the dock, the hope, the steamed buns, the tongue, the fortune, the omen, the waves

Thinking about the taro, the thought, the wood, the limelight, the sweetness, the concubine, the stone

The head, the brow, the fingers

(3) In plural personal pronouns or noun words referring to people with "men" as the suffix, "men" is pronounced softly. Such as:

Guests, ladies, ancestors, friends, people, they, we

Reporters, gentlemen, descendants, peers, children, you and us

Police officers, officials Businessmen, workers, farmers, they

(4) For words or morphemes with suffixes such as "上, 下, 里", etc., which only express directional meaning, the suffixes are generally pronounced softly.

For example:

On the road, on the roof, in the morning and evening, on the kang, on the platform, on the seat

On the surface, on the wall, on the tree, in class, at the foot, downstairs, under the car, under the car

Underground In the house, in the heart, behind the scenes, at night, in the factory, at home

(5) A compound locative word composed of the suffix "head, face, side", the suffix is ??usually pronounced softly. For example:

Front, back, outside, bottom, top, back, inside

Front, back, inside, outside, side

Outside, left, west, north, front, right, south, inside

Back to the east

(6) The modal particles "Ma, Ni, Ba, La", the dynamic particles "Zu, Lu, Guo", the structural particles "De, Di, De", etc. are all pronounced softly. Such as:

Are you leaving? Okay? And you? Where? After watching it, it was used for walking

Does it hurt? Go? What about her? It’s so uncomfortable! Walked, passed, thought about the food

Is it bitter? Want it? What about me? Finished eating! Eaten, drank, enjoyed, dressed

Look carefully, sleepy, beautiful girl

(7) When the tendency verb attached to the head word is used as a complement, it is pronounced softly. If "bu, de" is inserted between the head word and the trend verb, "bu, de" is pronounced softly, and the trend verb is generally pronounced in the original tone. For example:

Get up, see, take it out, look at it, say it up

Can’t get up, look, can’t tell, can’t take it out, can see it, can’t take it out

Can’t take it out I can't stand it, I can see it, I can tell it.

(8) When overlapping verbs are used together, the overlapping syllables are pronounced softly; if the overlapping verbs are used together, "一,不" is inserted in the middle. At this time, recite "一, 不" softly, and recite the original tune with overlapping syllables. For example:

Walking, looking, talking, laughing, walking, walking

Walking, looking, walking, talking, eating, laughing, or not laughing

2. The softly pronounced syllables in some words have the function of distinguishing the meaning and part of speech. If the syllable is read in the original tone, the meaning of the word changes. Such as:

Brother xiōng·di/xiōngdì buy and sell mǎi·mai/mǎimài

authentic dì·dao/dìdào cold war lěng·zhan/lěngzhàn

老子lǎo· zi/lǎozǐ benefit lì·hai/lìhài

leading lóng·tou/lóngtóu careless dàyi/dàyì

tailor cái·feng/cáiféng real shí·zai/shízài

Uncle dà·ye/dàyé ability běn·shi/běnshì

Enemy duì·tou/duìtóu boss dōog·jia/dōngjiā

Prisoner fàn·ren/fànrén doorway mén·dao /méndào

Report bào·gao/bàogào how many duō·shao/duōshǎo

3. The soft syllables in some words are conventional.

Such as:

(1) Yinping + Qingsheng

Betel nut errand mixed with kite glass slap to flatter the guy trembling

Mutter clothes sesame thoughtfully consider the secretary to rest comfortably

Friendship is generous, workshop, goblin, famine, public, rare birthday yangko

Hesitating and greeting fancy guys, sloppy, burdened sesame cakes, salary tossing

(2) Yangping + Qingsheng

solar term Well-proportioned sisters-in-law’s year and month calculation, loquat fence, lively and mysterious

Fox student moves and tidies up, year becomes trouble, fairy toad pomegranate

Rose cool radish cotton sticky friend slave priest cloud

Broom, baggage, torture, mushroom ability, rich man, firewood, disabled facade

(3) High voice + soft voice

Twist your head, pocket, boss, wife, manipulate mouth, fingers, melon seeds

The lady has already nailed The idea is wrong, the loudspeaker pays attention to passing inquiries

The sound tells the waiter who likes decent and steady snacks to dress up and mute

The son-in-law’s jewelry refreshes his eyes, peony, and his ears are sloppy

(4) Go to the sound + soft voice

Free and forgetful to scare husband, strength, beautiful abacus team place

Tofu Feng Shu happily reciting jokes, warm husband's ambition key

The moon is serious, natural, position, delicate, boss's understanding The notice is kind

The scene is bustling and the buttocks are neat and generous, and the in-laws are interested

The local remuneration for fence activities